Lean methodologies offers a structure where you can perform a series of tests, measure the results, review what contributed to success or failures before moving on…

By Poornima Vijayashanker (Founder, Femgineer)

Seems like everyone has heard the buzz about the Lean Startup movement, which was started over three years ago by Eric Ries. Yet I’m always surprised at the number of founders, product managers, and startup folks I meet who are struggling. Many have built and shipped products, some have even raised capital, but the one commonality amongst them all is they don’t fundamentally understand why they aren’t getting any traction. They’re stuck scratching their heads trying to figure out how to monetize.

After attending Lean Startup Machine L.A., I can say that the LSM model provides some of the most practical and focused guidance on how to define and launch a business that I’m likely to ever receive.

By Kelsey Greenberg (Co-Founder, Difference Lab)

My Lean Startup Machine (LSM) team was formed of two separate MuckerLab companies currently working on GetMeRated and Blayze. We were told that in order to get the most out of the experience, we shouldn’t work on our current products, but come up with something new.

The Minimum Viable Startup (MVS) on October 10, 2012 in Palo Alto is a custom all-day event to help entrepreneurs take the leap from viable product to viable startup and, along the way, avoid the most common mistakes made by entrepreneurs, which invariably leads to the same result – less upside for the founders on exit.

Women 2.0 members save 50% with discount code “W20oct” when you register here.

During a hackathon, we’re constantly evaluating whether “it’s worth it” on any given problem.

By Anna Billstrom (iOS & Facebook App Developer, Self)

Maybe, perhaps because I’m an English major, I tend to notice patterns in my speech.

I noticed recently that I keep saying the same phrases in discussions regarding mobile app development: secret sauce, no login, no back button, mentoring, phase 2, did the customer want that, don’t say user, and is it needlessly complex?

These discussions came up in hackfests, in client work, and in advising on technical projects. What the repetition of these phrases means to me, is that I need to reinforce certain

Over the last three years I have seen over a thousand startups in their early stages. I witnessed many of them go from an idea to funding within several months. I have also seen some of them fundraising for years and not getting anywhere.

When it comes to funding, there is one thing that can increase your chance of getting funded astronomically – traction. Yet, founders often struggle to get traction and hope that investor money will help them get it. This problem can be solved if you start lean, test your product and and gather meaningful feedback from your customers.

On February 14, Caterina Fake delivered the opening keynote at Women 2.0’s PITCH Conference stating the need and opportunity to “humanize technology before it dehumanizes us.” She underlined that “the Internet is built on a culture of generosity” and fear of missing out, urging the audience to build technology products that bring people together instead of driving them apart:

The butterflies in my stomach finally quietened and I felt at ease — our team completed a demo and a presentation that didn’t run over time. As Chung-Hay Luk and I sat down, I passed off my cue cards, not nervously fiddling with them anymore.

We participated at Hacking Health at UC Berkeley last Saturday. We were inspired with talks by industry leaders, motivated by mentors and volunteers, and energized by innovative ideas from designers, developers, and jack-of-all-trades that attended.

Date an entrepreneur. Date a girl who spends her money on iPads and web apps instead of trips to the mall. A girl who doesn’t mind being told that her idea isn’t going to catch on. One who’s kept a running list of things she’s wanted to change since she was a kid.

Find an entrepreneur. You’ll know that she is one because she will always have her smart phone out. She’s the one skimming TechCrunch and Women 2.0, the one who can’t stop

My first experience at Lean Startup Machine (LSM) was also the first Lean Startup Machine ever held. It was just over a year ago, and I mean that literally. I walked into LSM at Hive at 55 and began relationships that I hold among the closest in my professional life today.

As an attendee at the first #LsmNYC, I absorbed firsthand guidance from two actual practitioners of Lean: Brant Cooper, Co-Author of The Entrepreneurs Guide to Customer Development, and Giff Constable, who was going “lean” with his startup Aprizi.

It’s been the most unexpected turn of events. I’ll start at the beginning.

Two years ago, I got bit by the startup bug and then proceeded through all manner of motions at entrepreneurship. One of my major mistakes was thinking one could do a startup on the side if one just worked hard enough. I first tried to juggle the startup alongside a consulting biz. Then shut down the biz in favor of a full-time job [fact: I actually thought this would work].

“Learn not to add too many features right away, and get the core idea built and tested.”
— Leah Culver (Co-Founder & CEO, Convore)

Leah Culver is a Django developer and serial entrepreneur in San Francisco. Her first venture Pownce was acquired in 2008 by Six Apart. Currently, she is now working on her second startup Convore, which she incubated in Y Combinator earlier this year.

For my second startup Convore, I applied to Y Combinator because I wanted to be part of their alumni network. It’s a great way to test out a product — with thousands of Y Combinator alumni. Convore was accepted and part of the Winter 2011 group.

My motivations now are very different than when I just started doing startups. I’m not in startups for the money — there are a lot better things to make money on.

The trouble is that product traction isn’t just about getting a product out the door.

Your biggest competitor isn’t any company or individual — It’s time. It’s in the duration you have before you run out of money, morale, and the enthusiasm your significant other/family has for your endeavors.